We Achieved 103 Pieces Of Coverage In One Year (8.5 Pieces Per Month) Reaching Over 249 Million People

It's always a great feeling when you summarise the results from a yearly PR campaign and let's just say that there were high fives all around when we summarised the recent PR campaign for card company thortful.

Start-up company thortful is an online card company that focuses on supporting creative talent and having a card for every occasion. They came to us to help launch their brand to the media, opinion formers and target demographic. Their objective was to build brand recognition to boost card sales and boost repeat online purchases. The online card marketplace is crowded so we knew that we needed some seriously creative PR campaigns to truly make them stand out amongst the competition.

As well as promoting the general card range, Sunny Bird PR also developed a number of creative PR campaigns that would garner as much coverage for thortful as possible. This included the following:

-          Product placement and card round up pages
Throughout the year the team held multiple one to one media meetings in London and we ensured that thortful was always front-of-mind in advance of all key seasonal times of year (Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day etc.). Press became so used to seeing our faces (which is only ever a good thing) and thortful became synonymous with original, fun and thoughtful cards. Many journalists requested card samples for themselves and family members as a result and it was a brilliant way to introduce the media to the brand.

-          Father’s Day ‘the best advice your Dad ever gave you’
The team travelled 1,000’s of miles across national train networks to collect the best advice people had received from their fathers. This campaign resulted in some great quality coverage within the Mail Online as well as social media and consumer engagement.

-          Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Sunny Bird PR enlisted a thortful creative to curate a range of empathy cards. The idea behind the campaign was to create a range of cards that is different to the traditional ‘get well’ cards on the market. The creative herself previously suffered from cancer and was positioned as an authentic case study. This campaign resulted in 20 pieces of coverage in titles such as Mashable, Metro, Elle Online, Independent.co.uk and Good To Know.

-          Gary James McQueen ‘Are you OK?’ card range
The team collaborated with the nephew of the late Alexander McQueen to create a collection of ‘Are you OK?’ cards to tackle mental health stigma and to give thortful the opportunity to be positioned within the fashion and health titles. A mental health charity partnership was secured to add authenticity to the collaboration and the collection was featured in 17 titles, including; Hello Fashion Monthly, Emerald Street and Country & Town House Online.

-          Launching the Father’s Day Sock Card
Father’s Day 2017 saw the launch of the Father’s Day Sock Card – a gift and card in one. The team issued personalised samples to leading TV producers and male presenters who were also fathers. Not only did the team source the names of the influential fathers, but the card designs were chosen for them based on their public persona and taste. This activity resulted in stand-out coverage on ITV’s This Morning with Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield in a Father’s Day gift guide. The programme was watched by over 3 million viewers and thortful saw a direct increase in sales as a result.

-          Launching the Keepsake Cards
Sunny Bird PR pitched the Keepsake Cards as an alternative Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day ‘gift and card in one’. The press feedback for the Keepsake Cards was very strong, especially among the supplements. All key journalists received personalised Keepsake Cards and we offered them the opportunity to order a free Keepsake Card as a gift from thortful for a loved one of their choice. The activity was in line with thortful’s key messaging of always being thoughtful and it resulted in some great coverage, including pieces in S Magazine, Notebook and Fabulous.

-          Trade and Business outreach
Sunny Bird PR targeted key trade and business titles to ensure that thortful was positioned as a voice of authority and a start-up that was shaking up the card industry. The founder, Andy Pearce, was pitched as a successful entrepreneur and the face of the brand which resulted in standout coverage being achieved within the following titles; Marketing Week, Growth Business, Fresh Business Thinking, Progressive Greetings, Entrepreneur & Investor, Campaign Week and Enterprise Nation.

-          App reviews
One of thortful’s secondary objectives was to encourage sales through the thortful app to boost repeat purchase. Sunny Bird PR targeted journalists who often write app reviews specifically and also seeded the app and a free code to key mummy bloggers. This activity resulted in positive app reviews both in key national newspapers and on high circulation blogs. These reviews often included direct hyperlinks to the app store so that the app could be purchased. The blogger coverage also provided an opportunity for a ‘step-by-step guide on how to use the thortful  app’ to be published which educated the reader on the pros of using thortful over the competition. Coverage secured included; Metro, Mummy Constant and The Mirror.

The results are in!!!
One year, lots of media meetings and multiple creative PR campaigns later and we have secured 103 pieces of coverage with a reach of 249,370,993. The coverage spanned from high circulation online titles such as Mail Online, Mashable, ElleUK.com, Express.co.uk and a prime daytime TV slot on This Morning’s Father’s Day gift guide that resulted in a direct spike in thortful website traffic and Father’s Day sales.  

Want to find out more? Drop us a line on 01202 293095 to find out how a creative PR campaign could work for you too.

​​​​​​​19 Regional Client Wins in 12 Months

As Sunny Bird PR celebrates its fourth year as a public relations agency it also celebrates what has been a phenomenal year with a rebrand, office move and an influx of new clients and staff. 

Originally based in Basepoint, Hurn, the agency soon outgrew the office space and moved to Bournemouth town centre in September 2016. Sunny Bird, the owner of the agency explains: “We always assumed that we’d attract a lot of regional clients but in our first three years it was mainly national and international clients.”

Originally called Little Bird PR, after the colloquialism ‘a little bird told me’, Sunny made the decision to change the name as so many of the international clients didn’t understand the saying: “Some clients said they’d assumed from the name that we were a small agency and at three years in we really weren’t so I thought I’d change the name along with investing in a rebrand and an office move to reflect the agency more accurately.”

Since the rebrand to Sunny Bird PR and the move to large, central Bournemouth offices the agency has experienced a huge growth in regional client wins. “We’ve had a fantastic year with 19 regional clients signing up in the last 12 months. I had planned on expansion which is why I’d chosen such large offices but I had no idea it would happen this quickly or that we’d win so much regional business.”

The team at Sunny Bird PR specialises in having a fresh approach to modern media and creating strategies for brands to connect with their consumers on a regional, national and international scale. For more information call the team on 01202 293095 or email hello@sunnybirdpr.com.

We Organised Bournemouth’s Biggest Ever Public Street Art Project Reaching Over 4 Million People!

How could we get national coverage for a Bournemouth-based art gallery?

Most independent galleries are lucky to get regional coverage, we weren’t content with that. We wanted to get both regional and national coverage for our client, Ambassadeur Art, as the resident artists are of the calibre to draw collectors from all over the UK. The gallery, which we launched in May 2017, needed some new news to speak to press about since the hubbub of the launch had died down.

That’s when the idea of a giant street art project was born.

The resident artists at Ambassadeur Art found the spot they wanted to paint, one of Bournemouth’s busiest tourist spots, Pier Approach. The first step was to get the council onside, without them this project wouldn’t have been possible as it’s council land we wanted to paint on. As Bournemouth is a family holiday destination, the image of Spiderman holding an ice cream was suggested to tie in with the summer blockbuster.

Once terms had been agreed with the council we needed to source enough artists to complete the project in record time causing minimum disruption to the thousands of holidaymakers on Bournemouth pier. The team used social media to source these volunteers and also worked with the Arts University Bournemouth inviting their students to work on the project as well.

The project took three days to complete with the third day culminating in ‘The Big Reveal’ where the supersized painting would be officially finished. We organised The Big Reveal to invite the public, local dignitaries and most importantly the media to the site together. To encourage as many people as possible to come down for The Big Reveal, the team arranged free ice creams and face painting to anyone that came down in superhero fancy dress. Paid for social media was also used by the Sunny Bird PR team to promote the event to key demographics ensuring maximum attendance on the big day.

To give media the best assets we arranged for a professional photographer, a time lapse video and drone footage of the Big Reveal. To ensure media attendance on the day, Sunny Bird PR called all the broadcasters and regional press to book them in for the big event. To tie the supersized superhero to the gallery, Sunny Bird PR ordered Ambassadeur Art branded balloons and flyers to be handed out on the day.

The whole event was managed from start to finish without a hitch, the Big Reveal was attended by the Mayor and Mayoress of Bournemouth who shook hands with an artist dressed as Spiderman as he arrived via the pier zip wire to deliver the final flourish to the painting. The supersized superhero was surrounded by families and children all dressed up as superheroes making for great photos and video footage.

The meticulous execution of this supersized event led to over 20 pieces of coverage in just two days with a reach of over four million people, an advertising value equivalent of over £300,000. This heroic coverage was achieved across the BBC, radio, online and in print – all of which either used our press release or credited Ambassadeur Art for the photography and video footage.

The success of this project relied on the collaboration of so many people and we would like to take this opportunity to thank the following for their help and support on this, Bournemouth’s Biggest Ever Street Art Project: Michael Corica, Matthew Corica, Iain Alexander, Callie Onslow-Bartlett, Miroslav Lucan, Dairo Vargas, Julian Butterworth, Christian Lawson, Grace Lovelass, Sian Ferreira, Nicola Goode, Nick Maguire, Lois Clark, Morven Shortt, Emily Knights, Neil Woodman, Jenny Thorne, Sam Spinks, Thao Nguyen, Alice Burrett, Ibi Azab, Joshua Moseley, Jessica Russell, Jago Cremer-Roberts and Natalie Carr.

Latest Technologies & How They Can Be Used In PR

Attending Greenwood Campbell’s event on Thursday 6th June gave us an insight into the potential of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality in the world of commerce, marketing and PR. These technologies have only recently reached consumers, with Pokémon GO proving to be a hit for AR as the third most downloaded app in 2016. These technologies are also proving popular in the commercial worlds of retail, health, travel and entertainment. 

Bertie Millis from Virtual Umbrella kicked off the evening by introducing everyone to the world of Virtual Reality (VR); computer technology that uses virtual reality headsets to generate realistic images, sounds and other sensations that simulate a user's physical presence in a virtual or imaginary environment.

A person using virtual reality equipment is able to "look around" the artificially generated world and interact with virtual features or items.

Working with Virtual Umbrella, Robinsons, conducted a PR stunt using VR in one of London’s busiest train stations. People were invited to sit in an umpire’s chair at a tennis court in Waterloo station and using a VR headset were able to watch Wimbledon live giving them a 360 degree view of the game. As people queued for the VR experince, they were offered a new Robinsons’ flavoured drink which gave them the chance to win prizes including VIP Wimbledon tickets.

Mikela from Blippar followed Bertie and explained the difference between Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality; VR being a program that takes over your senses by putting on a headset and sometimes headphones, whereas AR superimposes a computer-generated image on a user's view of the real world, on a phone or tablet.

Blippar works with brands and businesses to create exciting and innovative campaigns where consumers can scan products using the Blippar app to explore offers, recipes, games and much more.

Blippar has worked with Coca Cola enabling Blippar app users to scan a branded bottle or can. The scan pops up with a juke box playing the top tracks in the UK on Spotify, giving the user an incentive to use the app.

A fantastic event from Greenwood Campbell, giving us an insight into what is currently being used by big brands such as Coca Cola and Robinsons to keep them ahead of the game. Campaigns such as Robinson’s Waterloo VR Wimbledon stunt is a great example of how VR can support a PR stunt and Coca Cola’s campaign with Spotify shows how AR can be used to enhance the consumer experience and extend their journey.

The event has got us thinking about how we can use these exciting technologies for our clients.

If you think they could work for your business get in touch with the Sunny Bird PR team and we’ll wow you with some ideas on how you can harness this fun, new technology. Give us a call on 01202 293095 or email hello@sunnybirdpr.com.

How We Got 70 VIPs to The Launch Night of Las Iguanas

Las Iguanas came to us in advance of opening its first Bournemouth restaurant asking for support on the all-important launch event. Our regional knowledge was required for a marketing strategy, regional media relations and most importantly, getting VIP guests to the launch event.

To source the most appropriate marketing solutions based on the core demographic of Las Iguanas as well as sourcing VIP guests.

Photos by Event Photographer Paul Underhill

To obtain the best advertising for the launch we researched the demographic for Las Iguanas, approached all suitable media outlets including print and radio, sourced media packs, listening figures, advertising packages and advised on where best to place the marketing budget.

Las Iguanas targeted the Sunny Bird PR team with securing 40 VIP attendees from a select group of local journalists, local bloggers, local businesses, local tourist attractions and the Bournemouth University journalists. The team thoroughly researched the guest list and sourced contact details to invite each guest personally. These invitations were managed, followed up, confirmed with table bookings and reminder emails to ensure attendance.

Photos by Event Photographer Paul Underhill

To enable first class coverage, the Sunny Bird PR team researched local event photographers and recommended the best to Las Iguanas. This photography could then be used for press, bloggers, by the Las Iguanas team as well as by Sunny Bird PR to promote the launch afterwards.

The Sunny Bird PR team also liaised with local press to secure coverage in advance of the launch.

We were originally tasked with a target of 40 VIPs, the team smashed this and had 70 VIPs attend on the night!

Photos by Event Photographer Paul Underhill

The evening was a great success, we had our VIP bloggers posting photos on their social media channels all evening showcasing the food, cocktails and entertainment. The Sunny Bird PR team followed up with each guest individually the next day, thanking them for attending and sharing the post-event press release and photography to secure post-event blogs or coverage. Coverage appeared in the local paper, local magazines, online as well as on the blogs and social media channels of Bournemouth’s best bloggers.

The Brand Communications Manager for the Las Iguanas group commented: “Thank you ever so much for everything it really was a brilliant evening and I’m just so happy with how everything went.”

How We Improved Our Social Media

We work on social media for most of our clients and the only way we can keep ahead of the game in this ever-evolving world is to fully immerse ourselves in it and become social media gurus. We make it our business to know the ins and outs of industry favourites Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. One of the best ways for us to be the best is to make the Sunny Bird PR channels an example. As the channels change the way they do things, we need to change with them so here we have outlined the changes we’ve made to our own channels as we adapt to achieve the best results.

Instagram

What wasn’t working

The company Instagram channel was treated in the same way as Facebook and Twitter with the same content duplicated across the platforms. At times it was treated as an after-thought with content posted ‘as and when’ rather than being scheduled. We didn’t invest as much time in the platform when it was first set up as this was before Instagram became the fastest-growing social media channel.

How we made it work

As Instagram grew in popularity, we invested more time in our content and improved the quality of the images. There are now a plethora of photography apps that give photos a professional edge, create collages, videos and animations which we are constantly experimenting with. We update our Instagram a minimum of once a day and try to ensure that it’s a mix of team activity, work achievements and PR advice. The company recently underwent a rebrand so our brand colours have now become an integral part of our instagram colour scheme and we often use post as a way of leading followers to our website.

Facebook

What wasn’t working

Facebook is a necessary platform for people to use as a way to suss out a new business before deciding to make contact. It’s easy for a business to think ‘social media = free advertising for my business’ but it isn’t all about that. It’s about starting a narrative and creating an online personality for your business that is relatable. 

What we discovered through our monthly analytics was that it was mainly all our friends that engaged with us on the Sunny Bird PR Facebook page rather than potential clients. We have existing clients, previous clients, other companies that we work with and our friends as our main audience.

How we made it work

Having learned this we changed our core messaging, we took away any ‘new business winning’ style posts and focussed instead on team news, business wins and local pieces. This has made our Facebook page friendly, likeable and has reduced the amount of people un-following us due to repetitive salesy posts not suitable for them. Increasing engagement and developing our brand’s personality has resulted in a page that welcomes new visitors and will give them the confidence to get in touch with us.

An example of the top performing posts from one month; the first was a video which always acheives high engagement thanks to Facebook's algorithm so we post at least one video a week. The second post performed well as it was a ‘feel good’ team shot and the third performed well as it was shouting out about the success of one of our clients so our followers and hers liked the post.

Twitter

What wasn’t working

Twitter is more conversational than Facebook and Instagram. The Sunny Bird PR Twitter channel had been posting similar content to the Facebook channel. Posting the same imagery and video content was not proving to be popular and we weren’t utilising Twitter’s conversational functions as well as we could have been.

 How we made it work

Recognising that Twitter’s strength is in conversation, we changed our approach and focussed more on starting, joining, commenting on conversations with a mixture of journalists, social media influencers, industry experts and clients.

We found that images and videos weren’t as popular as our PR tips, blog posts or client news so we adapted our posts to reflect this. We post content every day and follow key journalists to make conversation, congratulate them on a promotion or wish them a happy holiday. It keeps us front of mind when speaking to press. Retweeting relevant news and posting work achievements ensures we have a diverse range of content which is appealing to our audience, resulting in an increase in likes, retweets and followers.

If you would like support with your social media, get in touch with the team on

01202 293095 or hello@sunnybirdpr.com

Bye Bye Berliner

Although news in the old fashioned paper format has seen a huge decline over recent years, the demand is very much still there and that's the stance The Guardian took this week when defending its decision to ditch the Berliner (taller than a tabloid, narrower than a broadsheet) sized paper.

The Guardian was the only UK paper to take on the European favoured, mid-size format which appealed to many as it was more manageable while still feeling like an 'occasion' paper to enjoy at leisure. The Guardian will save millions by closing its specialist Berliner presses and will now print in a tabloid format through Trinity Mirror. 

The team (as always) have their own opinions on matter of the news in the news. Here's a  video from Lizzie and Rian sharing theirs...

Top Instagram Updates You Need to Know About

Instagram has continued to roll out a plethora of updates since February. Read on to find out what they are and the pros and cons of each feature.

Shoppable Instagram

Shoppable Instagram features were announced last October and in the last month it is finally filtering out into the mainstream. Most businesses still don’t have access to the function; however the number increases as each week passes. It has been rolled out to a number of beauty, fashion and jewellery brands, as well as influential bloggers.

Pros – This function is one that many Instagram users will welcome with open arms. Being able to shop directly from imagery is a logical step and we can’t wait for it roll out to the masses.

Cons – We can’t see any cons. It’s a great way for businesses to directly reach out to their consumer and encourage them to purchase.

Streamlined Disappearing Messages

Instagram has upped its game and created a similar feature to the popular social media app Snapchat. You are now able to send disappearing images/messages to your contacts via the direct message function.

Pros – Will this make Snapchat defunct? Is Instagram taking over the world? We think this may be the case. It is a great way for a business to drive a sense of urgency, for example, you could send information/discount codes to a select number of customers in the hope of encouraging a knee-jerk reaction to purchase quickly.

Cons – Snapchat has a loyal audience and it may take a lot of convincing for them to use Instagram in this way when they are happy with the Snapchat function. They will only be able to replay the message/visual once so they will have to action a discount code or offer relatively quickly.

Multiple Image Posts

Multiple image posts (also called “carousel posts”) let you create a single Instagram post with a slideshow of up to 10 images and/or videos. Users can scroll them. You can tag users on individual slides within the post. Many businesses and users have already utilised this function.

Pros – These posts are engaging and dynamic. They enable the account holder to ‘tell a story’. It is also a lot more effective than a collage and less time consuming to create.

Cons – For the account holder or business it means more content creation. If you use multiple images in one single post it means more time is needed to ensure you have enough content for each day.

If you'd like to know more about how to get the best out of your Instagram account, get in touch with us via hello@sunnybirdpr.com or 01202 293095.